Silent Night - By Tom Barber Page 0,77
to his knees, facing the drawers.
He took the handles and pulled them open.
There was a timer inside, red numbers this time.
They were counting down.
0:54.
0:53.
‘What the hell?’ Maddy said.
Archer rose, moving back. ‘Is this room secure?’
She nodded quickly, staring at the timer. ‘Yes, it’s airtight.’
‘We need to get out of here right now and lock it down.’
Maddy didn’t need to be told. She was already making for the door. Archer turned and followed her. She pushed in her code on her keypad.
But a red light buzzed above it.
It wouldn’t open.
‘What? This should work!’ she said, incredulous, frantically trying again.
Buzz.
Red light.
‘Someone’s locked us in,’ Archer said. He turned, and saw a camera mounted in the corner of the room. ‘Try and get the guard’s attention on the camera.’
As she ran over and waved her hands frantically, mouthing Help, Archer looked back at the timer.
0:42.
0:41.
‘Wait!’ Maddy said. ‘There are bio-suits in here. We’ll be safe.’ She turned from the camera and ran across the room, pulling open a locker.
But there was nothing there.
The rail was empty.
‘Someone’s taken them!’ she shouted. ‘They should be right here!’
Together, they looked back at the clock-face.
‘Oh my God!’
0:37.
0:36.
0:35.
‘Archer, what are we going to do?’
He didn’t reply, looking around the lab.
Think, man. Think.
He moved back over towards the device, examining it. It was at 00:29.
‘Quick, defuse it!’ she said.
‘I’m not a bomb tech,’ he said. ‘I can’t touch it. It might go off.’ He turned and grabbed a chair, running over to the glass wall. ‘We’ll have to smash our way out and run for it.’
He hammered the chair into the glass, but it just bounced off. He kept trying, but the glass was reinforced. There was no way he was breaking it. Dropping the chair, he pulled his pistol and fired three times. But all it did was leave three white dented splodges on the glass.
It wasn’t breaking.
‘Shit!’
He turned and looked around as Maddy ran back to the timer.
‘Twenty seconds!’ she screamed. ‘Oh my God, we’re going to die!’
Across the room, Archer looked around frantically.
Think!
Think!
‘Archer, what do we do?’
Scanning the room, his heart racing, he looked for a solution.
And suddenly, he had an idea.
He ran forward to the cryogenics freezer, ripping the doors open. He started pulling all the beakers and racks of test tubes off the shelves, placing them quickly on the desk top. He didn’t know if the gases inside were flammable or toxic, but took them out as quickly and carefully as he could.
‘Ten seconds!’ she screamed.
He ripped out all three shelves, throwing them out of the way.
They clattered to the floor across the room.
‘Five seconds!’ she screamed, unable to tear her eyes off the countdown. ‘We’re going to die!’
Archer ran to his left and grabbed her. He tore open the door to the freezer and dragged her inside with him, then pulled the door shut.
It closed and the plastic seal formed.
Then the bomb detonated.
Archer and Maddy saw the vial and cabinet shatter from the bug clipped to the back. The destroyed glass showered to the worktop and floor and the yellow virus started to seep out. It slowly drifted out into the room, giving the air a toxic golden tinge. Panting, Archer and Maddy stared at it, protected behind the glass and watching the evil miasma spread into the lab.
THIRTY SIX
The sealed door had saved them from the virus but now they were trapped. Inside the freezer, it was unbelievably cold. It was designed to hold and preserve chemical liquids, not living human bodies. The adrenaline was starting to pass, their heartbeats slowing and both Archer and Maddy’s bodies were starting to react to the freezing temperature. They were shivering hard. They’d pulled their collars up, folded their arms and closed their fists, trying to preserve any warmth their bodies created and protect their fingers from frostbite. But the cold was unremitting. It made the temperature out on the street seem almost tropical.
Archer had pulled his cell phone, taking utmost care not to nudge the door and break the seal, the only thing protecting them from the virus. Beside him, Maddy looked out of the glass door into the lab.
‘Anything?’ she asked.
He cursed. ‘Nothing. There’s no signal.’ He moved the phone around the freezer as much as he could, taking care not to hit the door and keeping his eyes on the display. No bars. No service. ‘Shit.’
He tucked the phone back into his pocket and wrapped himself up, trying to retain his body heat.
‘So what now?’ Maddy asked.
‘We wait until someone finds us.’
‘How